January 26, 2013

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NORMAN, Okla. - Coming off an appearance in the Women's
College World Series Championship Finals, the University of Oklahoma
softball team enters the 2013 season as the No. 2 team in the country
according to the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll, announced Tuesday.

The
No. 2 ranking matches Oklahoma's highest preseason ranking in school
history, as OU also started the 2001 season as the second-ranked team in
the country. It's the 12th time under head coach Patty Gasso that the
Sooners have started the year in the top 10 and the sixth time the team
has started in the top five.

The Sooners, who finished with a
54-10 record overall and 19-5 mark in the Big 12 a year ago, earned
five of the 31 possible first-place votes.
Oklahoma is one of only two programs to be ranked every week of the
National Fastpitch Coaches' Association Coaches' poll. The Sooners
entered the rankings at No. 16 in the first poll on January 24, 1995 and
have not dropped out since - 258 straight weeks.

Defending national champion Alabama captured 21 of the 31 first-place
votes to grab the No. 1 ranking. California, which received one
first-place vote, is ranked third, while Arizona State and Oregon round
out the top five.

The Sooners are one of four Big 12 teams
represented in the poll. Texas sits at No. 7, while Baylor is No. 24 and
Texas Tech is receiving votes.

All told, 16 of the Sooners'
opponents find themselves in the preseason Top 25, led by No. 5 Oregon.
In addition to the Ducks, OU is also scheduled to face Georgia (9),
Louisiana Lafayette (11), Arizona (13), Washington (16), Louisville
(18), Stanford (21) and Florida State (25).

Oklahoma
returns 13 letterwinners from the 2012 squad, including USA Softball
Player of the Year and All-American senior Keilani Ricketts. Fellow
senior Jessica Shults and sophomore Lauren Chamberlain also return from
All-American seasons.

In addition, the Sooners boast an incoming freshman class with seven players, all of which hail from the state of Oklahoma.

The 2013 season begins on Friday, Feb. 8, against No. 21 Stanford at the Kajikawa Classic in Phoenix, Ariz.